Scotland win tour opener

Scotland kicked off their tour of Sri Lanka with a convincing 55 run win over Ports Authority at Moors Cricket Club in Colombo.

Richie Berrington proved to be the standout performer during the Scotland innings with a blistering knock of 68, which included 3x4s and 6x6s.

He was well supported by Matt Machan (24) and captain Kyle Coetzer(23) who his first appearance in Scotland colours since July.

Scotland finished their allotted 20 overs on 159/4, with Rob Taylor (5*) and Matthew Cross (8*) occupying the crease at the end.

In reply the Ports Authority came up against a disciplined bowling attack, Calum MacLeod and Majid Haq both claimed 3 wickets after opening spells from Iain Wardlaw (3-0-16-0) and Safyaan Sharif (3-0-26-2).

De Silva top scored for the home side with 19, but Scotland put in a good fielding performance which included three catches for Gordon Goudie and an excellent leg-side stumping by Murphy, to dismiss Ports Authority for 104 in 17.3 overs.

Coach Peter Steindl said after the match, “It was a good run out first up. It wasn’t an easy batting wicket and you needed to muscle the ball around a bit. It required the batsmen to be fearless and back themselves, which they did.The bowlers did their job, backed up by good fielding to dismiss the opposition for just over 100. It was a solid performance.”

The team then took advantage of local conditions with a centre wicket training session ahead of their next fixture on Sunday.